Secret Worlds (588 page)

His explanation made sense. Sort of. “While we were down there, I noticed they left with a couple of young girls.”

“Oh.” His eyes lit up in recognition. “The brothel comment. I’m not running a brothel.”

“I never thought you were,” she lied.

“They gave those girls a safe escort home.” He noticed her skepticism. “I’m serious. Boyd had supervisor duty tonight. They go in the van and, if necessary, give any of the kids a ride home that need one.”

“Is that what happened that night I was here? When Peter and the others came back with the hurt boy? He didn’t really fall, did he?”

“No. He got into it with a couple of thugs.”

Ari stared at Davis, long and hard. His eyes looked so dark in the shadowy room. Finally she whispered, “And Oscar? Were you guys out keeping everyone safe that night, too?”

“Oscar was lured out and murdered by my brother. I already told you that.” His reply came out stiff and guarded.

She reached for his hand. “Since the first time I came here, I’ve known that something was off. That this was more than just a sports-centered residential program for troubled youth. What’s really going on here?”

“There’s nothing going on here, Ari. I’m teaching these boys to be careful and protective of their city. My father taught me the same thing. It was the foundation of our lessons here. Still is.”

“You’re using them to fight your battles. Like little soldiers.”

He pulled his hand away from hers and laughed. “They aren’t my soldiers. I’m not running an army here.”

“Davis, you train a group of specifically picked boys to fight. Masterfully. You teach them to take care of the city, defending the helpless girls down at the park and pushing drug dealers out of public places. Even fighting against the Vigilante—or his copycat. Don’t tell me they aren’t some kind of army. And that you’re not in charge.”

He didn’t respond. Ari couldn’t tell if that meant she was right, or if he was too angry to react. She didn’t plan to wait around to find out. Standing, she turned to leave, but Davis grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her back to face him. They were face-to-face and the anguish Davis felt rolled off his body in waves.

“Don’t hurt me,” Ari said quietly.

He shook his head and cupped her face in his hand. “I’d never hurt you. Ever.”

The sincerity of his words cut through her heart. He reached down and pulled up the sleeve of his shirt revealing his forearm.

“I’ve spent the last several months protecting you.” Lifting his hand, he unlaced the leather band he wore around his wrist. “It’s not an easy job.” Ari took his hand in her own and stared at the tattoo on his wrist, remembering the first time she’d seen it uncovered. The feeling of panic engulfed her—like it had that day in the hardware store.

Before she could react, Davis said, “I told you my mother died when I was 13. I didn’t explain how. Everything about her death changed my life.”

Ari knew the feeling. Her own life had been rocked the day her parents had died. “How?” she asked.

“She owned a small boutique downtown. The first few years, my father would meet her every night and pick her up from work, but over time, they got slack, and comfortable. I had baseball practice or football games and my dad would take me when she was at work. The night she died, I begged him to go pick her up. I had a feeling—no, it was more than a feeling. A sense of urgency to be with her. He and I argued and in the end I ran out, riding my bike down to the shop. When I got there, I found her bleeding on the street. She’d been murdered locking the front door.”

Ari brushed a tear away and squeezed his hand. “I’m so sorry.”

“My father developed an obsession with the fact that I ‘felt’ something that day. He hounded me and questioned me over and over again. I had no explanation. It was just a feeling, buried deep in my gut. But what he didn’t know was it wasn’t the first time I’d had that feeling. I had it the day my school bus was rammed by an 18-wheeler on the way to school. The urgency was so intense that I faked being sick to stay home.

“After my mother’s death, my father established a new motto. Vigilance. All the time. Never let your guard down, and prepare. And never, ever ignore your gut. He knew my sense of timing wasn’t random luck. It was a gift I had to cultivate. And if I had a gift like this, then others did, too.”

Davis walked over to the wall of curtains and pushed them back enough to see the gym below. “He watched me closely, and once he started the gym, he searched for signs in the other kids that came in. Who was exceptionally fast or had unusual strength. The first one he found was my brother. His skill wasn’t physical, though. His power came from his mind. Manipulative. He could charm the skin off a snake.”

“But your dad thought he was good?” Ari interrupted.

“He thought he could help him. My dad built this because he wanted to make sure we were ready and that the boys of the city weren’t using their anger for evil purposes. Like Antonio, the kid that shot at you. He had potential, but he squandered it.”

Ari stood next to him as he looked out over the darkened gym. “So you knew I needed your help that day at the hardware store?”

“I knew.”

“How did you know my name?”

He smiled. “I’d seen you around juvenile court. Judge Hatcher is a close friend. People talk about you and the work you do with the kids. It’s my business to know what’s going on in Glory City.”

Ari laughed. “People talk about me?”

“They do. You’ve invested your heart in these kids and people have noticed. I’m wondering if you may have a gift as well.”

“Like your instinct thing?” she asked. He nodded. She ran her thumb over the inked characters. “What does this mean?”

“Vigilance. We got them after my father died. To remind us to be careful with who we let enter our safety zone. We’ll never do that again.”

“We?” she pushed.

“Peter, Boyd, and the others. They’re all my brothers. My father raised us and we’ll raise the next generation.”

Ari considered the implication. “So they all have gifts like you do?”

“Yes.” Davis pushed the hair off of Ari’s face, trailing his fingers down her neck. His gentle touch lit a flare in her chest. “I barely got to you that day. There’s no way you would have left that store alive if Jace had seen you.”

“I thought you were him. Sorry I went so crazy.”

“Yeah, I know. You took a chunk out of my hand.” He laughed. “But I’m glad. Always fight, Ari. Even if you think you can’t win.”

Ari looked around the apartment. “Since it’s not a brothel, I guess a better description would be Bat Cave?”

“It’s on the third floor. How can it be a cave?”

“Lair?”

He shook his head. “I’m not a superhero, you know. No tights. No cape.”

“Uh huh,” she said. Davis moved one hand just under her ear while the other pressed against her hip. Ari shifted her feet and bit down on her lip, playing shy. “You know, I never got to thank you for saving me.”

He raised his eyebrow. “You thanked me. Several times over.”

Fisting his shirt in her hand and pulling him close she said, “I disagree.”

***

Ari led Davis behind the partitioned wall. His bedroom was small, barely bigger than the bed. Her fingers found the hem of his shirt and pushed it upward, revealing his hard, muscled stomach. She ran her hands over his chest while he unbuttoned her shirt, shivering when his fingers met her skin. “God, you’re perfect,” she said like she’d been wanting to for weeks.

Davis pushed her shirt over her shoulders and it fell to the floor. He ran his thumbs over the top of her breasts, smoothing her lace-edged bra. “Yeah, I could say the same thing.”

Eager, she brought her mouth to his and pressed her body forward until he fell back on the bed. Ari unbuttoned his jeans and tugged them off, laughing as he struggled to kick them to the ground. She removed her own and when she looked back up, she asked, “Commando?” with a lifted eyebrow.

“I wasn’t expecting company.” He propped his head up against a pillow. “Not that this is an unwelcome complication.”

Ari unclasped her bra and dropped it to the side of the bed and she shimmied out of her panties. He beckoned her forward and she climbed over his body until her face was inches away from his. “You still see this as a complication?” she asked, fighting a moan when his body pressed tentatively against hers.

“God, no,” he said, looking up long enough to flip her over on her back. He ran his fingers down between her legs and she tightened her grip on his back in response.

“Davis,” she whispered. He paid her no mind, kissing down her body, loving each memory, each star. “Davis.” It came out more insistent. She reached down for him, pulling him back up, feeling that he, too, was ready. He was just prolonging her misery. Or ecstasy. Or both.

“Now,” she exhaled into his ear, biting the lobe. She wanted him in her. Now. Just being near him was foreplay enough.

Davis filled her while kissing the star in the middle of her chest before moving to her mouth. He moved excruciatingly slow, his taut muscles rolling with each movement. Her entire body felt alive, pulsing with energy and fire. This man had amazing self-control and he used every ounce of it while they moved together.

Biting her bottom lip, Ari began to whimper, her breath coming short and fast. Above her, Davis’, forehead creased and a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. With a final push, he pressed his mouth to Ari’s, stealing her breath.

With their bodies still connected, Ari whispered into Davis’ mouth. “Thank you.”

He laughed and kissed her mouth, nose and cheeks. “You’re welcome.”

***

Ari laced her fingers through Davis’ and rolled so she could see him. “I have a question.”

Davis kissed the tips of her fingers one by one and said, “Okay. Go ahead.”

“I guess I understand why you saved me at the hardware store and from Jace that night. Like why you were there. But what about the club? And showing up in my backyard that night. What was that?”

“Yeah, that was different.”

“Care to explain a little more?” Ari laughed, poking him in his rock-solid abs.

“I didn’t know you were going to be there, I promise. We just decided to go out that night and blow off a little steam. The club loves it when we show up, so it was no big deal. Then I saw you on the dance floor and it was like that feeling? The one in my gut? It just exploded. I don’t think I could have kept my hands off you if I tried.”

“I pretty much felt the same way,” Ari confessed. “I hadn’t felt like that in a really long time. Not even with Nick.”

“Nick?”

“The boyfriend—the ex,” she clarified. “What, you haven’t seen him with me? No offense but you kind of suck as a stalker.”

Davis grabbed her in a playful hold. “I wasn’t stalking. I only came when I had the feeling I needed to. Or well, that one time in the backyard when I was just really, really horny.”

“Ew, really?”

He kissed her hard. “Yeah, really.”

The next night with a magazine lying across her chest, Ari dozed, half asleep on her bed. Her phone buzzed, jarring her awake and two words popped up on the screen:

Meet me.

Davis and Ari only had one meeting place. Passing up her usual club wear, Ari quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and boots. She knotted the oversized T-shirt she wore at the waist and threw on a coat. With her hand on her bedroom doorknob, she paused. Oliver and Veronica had been watching a movie on the couch since dinner. Angry didn’t even begin to describe Oliver’s feelings about her late night with Davis and she suspected meeting him again at such a late hour would start a fight, so Ari took a page out of Davis’ book. She grabbed her purse and climbed out her back bedroom window. She almost blew it when she yelped from banging her knee on the windowsill, but managed to close the window without slamming it shut. Ducking past the living room windows, she quietly got in her car and started it without turning on the lights.

Glory’s streets were quiet and the drive to the club only took ten minutes. Since it was still early, the parking lot was only half full. The bouncer nodded at Ari, taking her entry fee and stamping her hand.

“How are you tonight?” he asked. Skinny and pale, he had the opposite look of a standard bouncer. But Glorious wasn’t really a rough club.

“Pretty good. Meeting a friend. You?”

“Eh, another night, I suppose.”

She smiled in sympathy and passed through the door, wrinkling her nose at the familiar smell. Sweaty and dank. Scanning the small crowd, Ari saw Davis hadn’t arrived yet. Did he mean somewhere else? Like the GYC? Even after their previous encounter, that seemed unlikely.

They’d left on good terms, both worn out. Ari could only trust that he’d told her the truth, that he helped those in need. She believed him, but there seemed to be bigger forces going on in Glory City than he revealed.

Ari took a spot at the bar, facing the dance floor and rested her elbow on the sticky surface.

“Want something?” the bartender asked from behind her.

“Just a soda, please.”

“Sure.”

There was still no sign of Davis, but Ari noticed a group of people stopping at the end of the bar. She leaned down to get a better look at the bottle-neck down the row of stools. Maybe he was there? Or one of his guys drawing attention? It wouldn’t have been the first time.

“I’ll be right back,” she said over her shoulder to the bartender. He’d just placed a plastic cup of soda on the bar. Most of the seats were empty anyway so holding one for her shouldn’t have been a big deal.

Ari didn’t need to go far, though. It obviously wasn’t Davis and his crew. All Ari could see was some girl surrounded by a handful of guys. She must have been dressed to kill to get all that attention.

“What’s that all about?” Ari asked the bartender, when she returned to her seat. He looked more the part of bouncer than the bouncer did. Tight black T-shirt. Bulging muscles. Adorable, tip-worthy dimples. She took a sip of her drink. Ugh. It needed more ice.

“Not sure,” he said, running a hand over his shaggy hair. “She’s been here the last couple of nights. She comes with that guy, but then leaves with other dudes. She’s probably hooking.”